The measurement of large numbers of chemical species at one time in a high throughput manner is important in a number of areas including drug discovery and genomics. Advances in the understanding of molecular biology and genetics and the promise of biotechnology have created a need for improved tools. For example, new information provided by projects such as the Human Genome Project has created even more demand for faster, higher throughput methods for sequencing DNA. The tremendous efforts put into sequencing in the last decade have helped researchers begin to understand fundamental cell function. These efforts have accelerated the pace of research and discoveries and have created a growing need for improved tools for analyzing a large variety of molecules in addition to DNA. The benefits to mankind in medicine, agriculture and for the environment, as well as the economic potential that these fields promise, are driving researchers to decipher the function of individual genes, molecules and the cells that contain them. By sequencing an organisms' DNA and analyzing the molecules that make up its cells, researchers are able to develop an understanding of the systems and structure that make it function.
Optical methods can provide the sensitivity and reliability required for high throughput analysis. In order to optically interrogate samples, one must have a means for introducing a sample into an instrument which is capable of optically engaging the samples. For example, as described by Eid, et al. Science, 323, 133-138, 2009 an array of optical confinements can be used to carry out thousands of sequencing reactions simultaneously using a chip having thousands of optical confinements. One way to introduce such a sample into an optical instrument is to provide a consumable element such as a chip which is precisely manufactured for high throughput optical analysis of a sample introduced onto the chip. Such a consumable should be environmentally protected from the point of manufacture to the point where it is brought into contact with a sample and analyzed in the instrument in order to avoid contamination. There is a need for packaging systems and for methods of providing a high-throughput analysis chip that is sealed for shipping, handling, and storing, yet can be quickly and reliably removed from the sealed environment for the addition of samples and reagents for analysis. These are particularly important for analyses which are carried out by automated, robotic equipment.